Citizen survey: Laguna’s a great place to live

A citizen survey conducted by National Research Center Inc. showed that 97% of respondents rated the overall quality of life in Laguna Beach as “excellent” or “good,” according to results released at Tuesday’s city budget workshop.

The resident opinions included responses from 405 citizens, with many reporting that they plan on staying in the community for the next five years.

The survey said the four areas that received the most favorable ratings were the overall image or reputation of Laguna Beach, quality of overall natural environment, overall appearance and the cleanliness of Laguna Beach.

Amount of public parking, ease of car travel, traffic flow on major streets and the availability of affordable housing received the lowest ratings, according to the survey.

All city services were rated favorably, with 29 out of 35 city services “above” the benchmark rating. (NRC’s database of comparative resident opinion is made up of resident perspectives gathered in citizen surveys from 500 jurisdictions.)

In the category of public trust, the overall direction that the city is taking and the job that the city does at welcoming citizen involvement was rated as “excellent” or “good” by 65% of all respondents, also “above” the benchmark.

Overall quality of services delivered by the city was rated as “excellent” or “good” by 89% of respondents, an improvement compared to 72% in the 2007 survey results.

Almost all of the respondents, 99%, feel “very” or “somewhat” safe in their neighborhoods and the downtown area during the day.

The survey was conducted in January by NRC and cost less than $10,000, according to the city’s website.

For complete survey results and to see them in comparison to the 2007survey, visit lagunabeachcity.net and find the 2012 Citizen Survey under “About the City.”

— Alisha Gomez

Twitter: @coastlinepilot